Chapter 5: Wild Sassafras and Flying Pixies

The next morning, Haim was up and about, though complaining about his chest being sore. Violet explained to Etta that it was probably from the CPR, but since he was young, there should be no lasting damage. He just needed to take it easy for a week or so.

"Ach, ye'd have better luck teaching one of me goats to whistle," Etta laughed as the boy raced out of the house after Meg.

"Well, I'm sure if it starts to pain him, he'll be back in a hurry," Violet assured her.

"Ye dinna have brothers growing up, did ye?"

Both women laughed.

"Etta," Violet began, hesitantly, "since I'm no longer keeping my magic a secret…,"

When she didn't finish, Etta prompted her, "spit it out child. Nothing gets better the longer ye hold it in."

"Well, back in my world, I had my grimoire as well as my mother, grandmothers, and two of my ancestors. I also had a good stock of spell components. Here I have nothing. I'm starting over with nothing."

"Ye came here naked as a newborn," Etta laughed.

"That was my own darn fault for falling asleep naked in the forest," Violet blushed hotly at the memory. "Anyway, not doing magic for me is like having wings and not flying. It doesn't hurt me, but I don't feel whole without it."

"Dinna ye worry," Etta assured her, "magic here is accepted. Ye dinna hide it. Fact is, if ye can heal and make magic potions, ye can make a comfortable living here."

That got Violet's attention. "Really?"

"Aye, magic may be accepted, but not common. A good healer is almost always welcome."

Violet remembered her failed healing crystal and sighed, "well, without any components, I'm not much of anything."

"That's not true," Etta tossed the towel down on the counter, "ye healed Haim without anything but yerself and a prayer."

Violet started to argue that CPR was not magic but remembered the feeling in her lungs and the image in her mind of his. The feeling had been similar to what she felt in the forest when she cleansed the blight, but on a smaller, more intimate scale. Maybe there had been a bit of magic involved. But how to confirm it?

"Anyway, I would like to try to collect some items from the forest around here. Start building my inventory," she said instead.

Etta shrugged, "ye can go out by yerself, but be careful not to get lost. Ye aren't familiar with these woods yet."

"I can go with her," Lettie said from the door.

"Girl!" Etta turned to her with a frown, "ye know better than to ease drop on people."

"I wasn't, I swear," the girl protested. "I just came in from the barn and heard the last part. About Violet gathering stuff from the forest. I dinna hear anything about her being a witch an' all."

Violet had to cover her mouth to hide her smile and even Etta's lips twitched.

Armed with two baskets, cold pasties for lunch, and orders to collect chokecherries while they were out, Violet and Lettie started out. Nearing the pond, Violet paused and motioned Lettie to stay back as she approached it cautiously.

"What are ye looking for?" Lettie asked.

"I'm not sure. I thought I saw something yesterday."

"Saw something?" Lettie took a step to follow her.

"No," Violet held up her hand. "I need you to stand there. If it looks like I'm about to do something foolish, yell."

"Why would you…?"

"Just keep watch, okay?" Violet said with exasperation.

"Aye," the girl said in a sulky voice.

As Violet approached the lake, she couldn't see anything but the murky water. No flash of movement or anything under the surface out of the ordinary. She circled it completely without catching a glimpse of what she had the day before.

Satisfied she had been seeing things that weren't there in the aftermath of the emergency, she rejoined Lettie.

"Sorry," she smiled with the apology, "I thought I saw something yesterday. Looks like it was just my imagination running away with me."

Together they entered the woods behind the clearing. Just a few steps in and the heat of the sun faded, replaced by the dappled shade from the canopy of leaves over their heads. The forest floor was bare except for gnarled roots running along the top and clumps of holly plants and willows vying for slivers of sunlight shining through breaks in trees. Thick vines wound around the trunks of trees, bare until they reached high enough to catch the light. Lettie identified them as wild grapes with thick, skin and tart flesh.

"What kind of plants are you looking for?" the girl asked after they had walked for several minutes.

Violet wished desperately for pen and paper with which to make a list instead of having to go from memory but resigned herself to the task. She was at a loss as where to begin. Most of her collection had been passed to her from her mother and grandmother and all she had to do was keep it stocked. But starting from the beginning? There were just so many that it was hard to pick. While she struggled to compose a sensible list, she spied a familiar plant.

"Sassafras!" she cried and rushed over to it. Nestled against a tall pine, the oddly shaped leaves were a welcome sight.

"Me-maw makes tea with the root when we have upset stomachs," Lettie said, catching up with her.

"Your grandmother is smart, that's one of its many uses," she replied, plucking a large handful of the leaves before kneeling to dig up some of the roots with a small spade she had brought along. After harvesting what she needed from plant, she noticed a flowering dogwood tree nearby, then chickweed. Every time she found one plant, she spied another. As she gathered, she explained their uses to Lettie. The girl was a quick learner and was soon darting away to find other plants. Before long, her basket was overflowing with her harvest and she suggested they stop and have their lunch before looking for chokecherries.

Lettie led her to a creek with large rocks on its banks for them to sit on and dangle their feet in the cool water while they ate. They laughed as minnows grew bold enough to nibble their toes and Violet told the girl about spas that specialized in little fish that would eat the dead skin off their client's feet.

Her eyes grew huge. "They pay money for this?" she asked in disbelief.

"Absolutely," Violet assured her. Then she told her about other things that went on at spas, like massages, facials, manicures, soaking in hot tubs or hot springs, sweating in saunas.

Lettie was amazed that people had both the time and money for this kind of extravagance.

"You know," Violet told her, "I bet there are similar things in some of the large cities here."

"Mayhaps in faraway places like Waterdeep, but not here in the Dalelands," Lettie told her. "Not that I'll ever get to go anywhere out of Deeping Dale," she sighed.

"What do you mean? Can't you go anywhere you want once you're grown?"

"Aye, but what's a simple farm maid going to do in big cities?" Lettie's shoulders slumped. "I have no education; I can barely read and write."

"That shouldn't stop you," Violet said earnestly. "If you want to learn, then you'll find a way. I'm not saying it will be easy, but nothing worth having ever is. You just have to want it enough to put in the work."

"Is that what yer going to do?"

Violet nodded, "absolutely. Your grandmother gave me an idea. That's why I'm out here with you right now, doing this."

Lettie perked up, "will ye teach me?"

Violet hesitated before answering, "I'll have to ask your grandmother first, but if she says yes, of course I will. Plant lore is a good skill to have anywhere."

"Not just that," Lettie said with an edge of excitement, "I want to learn how to use magic and be a witch like ye."

Taken aback, Violet was silent for a moment. During that moment, Lettie's excitement drained out of her and the girl visibly wilted.

"Ye don't want to teach me yer magic, do ye?"

"No," Violet hurriedly assured the girl. "It's just that…," she struggled to put it into words, "magic can be taught, yes, but a person has to be born with the ability to use it."

"How do you know I wasn't?" Lettie challenged her with a defiant glint in her eyes.

"Well, it usually manifests at puberty."

"Puberty?"

"When you start your period."

"Periods?"

"Bleeding."

"Oh," Lettie blushed a bright pink. "What happens?"

"At first, it's just little things. Like knowing one of your goats gave birth in the middle of the night and it's in trouble. Or you reach to grab something in the barn and something in your mind warns you to be careful. When you look closely, there's a poisonous spider hiding on the handle. One morning, I woke up and had a strong urge to make some dogwood bark tea. Just as it was ready, my mother woke up complaining of a terrible headache. Then I started seeing things in the forest that couldn't be real. Later, I found out they were fae. Normally, only people with magic can see them unless they deliberately hide themselves."

Lettie was quiet when Violet finished.

"Has anything like this been happening to you?" she asked gently, knowing the answer.

Lettie hung her head and mumbled, "no."

Violet wrapped an arm around the girl and tried to pull her close into a hug, but Lettie stiffened and pulled away.

"Lettie, there are still a lot of things you can learn and do that do not involve magic. I'm willing to teach you all that I can. When you're old enough, you can find others to teach you more. You don't have to be a witch to be able to do great things with your life."

Lettie sniffled and whipped her eyes with her sleeve, "are ye done with yer lunch? We need to get going if we're going to pick chokecherries and make it home before dark."

Violet watched her stand and walk away. Lettie's stiff posture indicated she was angry, but Violet had only told her the truth. Hopefully, she would get over her ire before it ruined the day.

Stepping across the creek to follow Lettie deeper into the forest, Violet caught a flash of light along the bank. Pausing, she crouched to pick up a crystal the size of her smallest finger with delicate veins of gold through its matrix. Looking around, she immediately saw another one.

"Lettie!" she called to her companion. "Hold on a minute."

As she picked up the second crystal, she heard a step on the bank behind her.

"Look what I found," she smiled as she held up the crystals and turned around.

And froze.

No more than ten yards away stood a magnificent stag. Standing higher at the shoulders than Violet or any other person she had ever met, he held his head high and stared at her with intently intelligent eyes. His antlers spread out around his head like a gnarled pile of driftwood, more fantastically tangled than that of an ordinary deer or elk. Flickers of movement caught her attention as tiny pixies flew among and rested on its numerous prongs much like colorful tropical fish in a coral reef. A golden glow surrounded the creature as if he were standing in a ray of sunlight, but the canopy over head was dense and the area shrouded in shadow despite the sun overhead.

The forest around them had grown still and quiet, the only sound the gentle babbling of the creek Violet stood in. Even the slight breeze that had blown through the trees had died in the presence of the stag.

For long moments their gazes met. Violet felt that something momentous was about to happen and held her breath to keep from breaking the spell. Then the stag dropped his head and sniffed something on the ground, scraping at it with a hoof as big as Violet's foot. The beast snorted, then lifted his head to gaze at Violet again. His flock of pixies took to the air in a flurry of diaphanous wings, spiraling around his head like a miniature tornado before descending to the spot he had scraped, further disturbing the dirt and debris with their whirlwind. The tiny fae circled the spot before returning to the shelter of the stag's antlers and resuming their positions within it as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.

Nori appeared and rubbed against the stag's forelegs before casually walking to a rotten log. Leaping upon it, she began to groom a spot on her stomach, ignoring the exchange between Violet and the stag.

Unexpectantly, the stag tensed, and his tail flicked side to side in agitation, snorting in alarm. The pixies in his antlers stilled, going on alert as well. Then, without a backwards glance, he spun and bounded off into the forest, quickly disappearing in the dappled shadows. As if a switch had been flipped, life returned to the forest.

"What are ye doing?" Lettie asked from the other side of the creek. "I've been waiting for ye."

The hairs on Violet's arms stood on end and a shiver traveled down her spine as she stared after the wild fae.

"Violet!"

Reluctantly, she turned around and faced the girl. "Sorry, I got distracted," she explained. "I found these in the creek," she said holding up the two quartz crystals.

"What are ye doing over there, then?" Lettie asked as she stepped across the water.

Violet looked around and realized that she wasn't in the creek bed anymore; she was standing in almost the exact spot the stag had stood. Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs out of it, she shrugged, and answered truthfully, "I have no idea."

"Did ye see something? Ye were looking off into the woods."

"Yes," there was no reason to lie about what happened, "I saw a wild fae."

Lettie's eyes grew round, "ye did? What did it look like?"

"A giant stag with enormous antlers."

Lettie frowned, "there are lots of stags in these woods. How'd ye know twas fae?"

"For one, it was taller than your grandfather at the shoulders and no stag I have ever seen had antlers that looked like these. Second, there was a flock of pixies nested in his antlers."

Lettie considered her arguments carefully before slowing nodding her head, "ye could be right. Tis said the Prince of the Forest has been seen in these parts before."

"Prince of the Forest? That's appropriate. It felt like I was in the presence of something profound."

"Ye are right about that. They say that seeing it portents important happenings."

"What kind of important happenings?" Violet asked, curious.

This time Lettie shrugged, "don't know, but I bet me-maw could tell ye. But we really need to hurry now if we're going to be home before dark."

Violet looked up and was jolted to see the sun was no longer overhead. It was now more than halfway to the horizon.

"How long has it been since we ate?"

Lettie held up her basket brimming with chokecherries, "long enough for me to pick these and come back for ye."

By Violet's reckoning, more than three hours had passed.

"Why did you wait so long to come looking for me?"

Lettie frowned, "I don't know. It didn't seem like it was that long until it was."

"Fae glamour," Violet muttered.

She started towards the creek to join Lettie, but the toe of her shoe caught on something in the dirt and she stumbled. Turning around to peer down at the ground, she saw a glint of something under the scattering of detritus. Squatting down, she brushed it away and drew a sharp breath in surprise. Half buried in the dirt was pendant. Using her fingers, she dug around it enough to free it and picked it up.

"What did ye find?" Lottie asked, coming up behind her to look over her shoulder and catching her breath when she saw what Violet held in her hands.

"I'm not sure, but I think it was unearthed by the stag and his pixies for me to find," she said quietly.

A bit larger than a marble, the pendant was a multifaceted crystal that looked like a miniature disco ball. It was clear like quartz except for a swirl of color in its center that appeared to move and change colors as she examined the object. Probably an illusion created by the facets, she told herself. It hung on a silver chain that, despite being caked with dirt, bore no trace of tarnish.

Standing, Violet took it to the creek and washed away the dirt. Once clean, it shown like new as it dangled from its chain, the stone catching random bits of sunshine and reflecting them in brilliant flashes. Strangely enough, despite being buried in the ground and washed off in the cool stream, the crystal felt warm to the touch.

"It's beautiful," Lettie breathed.

"Yes," she agreed.

"Put it on."

Violet hesitated. Her mother and grandmother had always cautioned her about accepting gifts from the fae.

"They're wily and never give anything for free. Everything for them is an exchange, and not always in your favor," her grandmother had said.

"No," she shook her head and tucked the amulet and chain into one of her pockets. "Lesson number one, never accept a gift from the fae unless you know exactly what you're accepting."

The girl's face fell, but she didn't argue.

Together, they hurried back through the woods towards the homestead, barely making it as the sun dipped behind the trees.

That evening after Lettie and the children had been sent to bed, Violet told Etta and Hamish about her encounter with the fae in the forest. At first, they were worried, but as she described the stag, they relaxed.

"Ach, ye seen the Prince o' the Forest," Etta tutted. "Means something important is going to happen to ye."

"Ye don't know that for certain," Hamish frowned, "tis just a wild tale told by folk that don't have any sense."

"Hush, pappa," Etta argued. "Me own mum told me, and she had sense enough to let ye have me hand in marriage!"

Hamish sighed and shook his head, "aye, ye mother also left milk out on the stoop for the fairies to drink."

Etta swatted him. "An' it was gone e're morn!"

"Aye, from the twenty barn cats ye had."

Violet hid her grin at their antics. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the chain and pendant, placing it on the table.

Etta's breath hissed between her teeth, "where did ye come upon this?"

"The stag led me to it. It was buried in the ground near the creek."

Hamish reached out to pick it up, but his wife slapped his hand, "do na ye touch it!"

"Woman, what has got into ye?" Hamish asked in astonishment.

"Tis a gift o' the fae and not to be taken lightly. It's bad enough ye brought it into me home," she glared at Violet.

"You're right to be cautious," Violet told her, taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor, "but it didn't seem right to leave it out in the forest either."

"I do na want it in me home," Etta said with an air of finality.

Violet nodded, "I understand. You're protecting your family." She picked it up and stood, "I'll take it out to the barn."

Etta opened her mouth to object, but Hamish cut her off, "ye surely don't expect her to go out in the woods at night, do ye?"

Etta turned her glare on him. "Nay. But if the milk dries up or anything else unnatural happens…," she let the threat trail off.

"I will take it out and bury it first thing tomorrow morning," Violet promised.

She shouldn't have been surprised by Etta's reaction. She was sure her grandmother and mother would have done the same. In fact, she had warned Lettie about accepting gifts from the fae and then had turned around and did exactly that. The last time she had, she ended up here. What had come over her?

Going out to the barn, she found a nail high on the wall and hidden behind a beam to hang the pendant on. Reluctantly, she hooked the chain over the nail and stepped away. The moment she did so, she was seized by the urge to snatch it back and put it back in her pocket.

"Oh, no you don't," she scolded it softly. "I'm not going to fall for that. I may have picked you up and brought you back with me, but I'm not going to be bound to you."

Forcing herself to turn her back on it, she left the barn. The farther away she got from it, the more powerful the draw became. Refusing to look back, she looked across the clearing towards the pond. Again, there seemed to be a glimmer under the water.

"Probably just a reflection," she muttered, not wanting to go out there in the dark and by herself.

Ignored the call of the pendant and the pond, she returned to the house. As she walked in, she heard Etta.

"First, Hiam drowns in the pond, pushed by someone nobody saw, now this," she said as she paced back and forth, wringing her hands.

"Etta," Violet walked over to her, "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, but you're right. That thing has to go."

Etta's face softened, "I know yer a good lass, but I worry about the children. After what happened to Haim, I do na want to take any chances."

Violet looked down nervously, "this probably isn't a good time to bring this up, but I promised Lettie I would talk to you about it."

Wariness replaced concern in the old woman's eyes, "what is it?"

"She wants me to teach her."

"Teach her what? Magic?" Hamish asked from across the room.

"No," Violet shook her head. "Magic cannot be taught to someone who's not born with it. She wants to learn what I know about herb lore, healing, and the like. I didn't make her any promises."

Etta sat down hard in her chair at the table and wiped her face with her sleeve, "all these years, that child has shown no interest in such, now she wants to learn. And not from me." Her shoulders slumped.

Violet sat beside her and picked up her hands, giving them a squeeze. "You know how it is at that age. She's starting to grow up and wants to show how independent she is. Teenagers always think there's something better out there just waiting for them to find it."

"Aye," Etta smiled, "I remember pining away for the apprentice of a traveling tinker."

"Oh, ye did?" Hamish asked gruffly.

"Aye," she got a faraway look in her face, "he was a half-elf and so beautiful to look at. I thought me heart would burst every time I saw him."

"What happened?" Violet prompted when she stopped.

Etta cleared her throat and shook herself, throwing off the memory, "he only had eyes for the headman's daughter. They were caught kissing in the stables. After that, whenever the tinker came through, the boy wasn't with him anymore. Then this handsome son of a farmer snatched me up."

Hamish coughed, "I had to chase her something awful before she would even talk to me. She had her eye on another, but my sister won his heart, so I got the prize."

At the mention of his sister, both looked uncomfortable for a moment. Violet suspected there was more to the story.

Violet smiled, letting the tense moment pass. "See? It's easy to get distracted at that age."

Etta patted her hands before pulling them out of her grasp, "aye, yer right. I see no harm to ye teaching the child. Just no magic, mind ye!"

"Absolutely," Violet promised.